Sony Introduces PlayStation Stars Loyalty Program For Gamers

MANILA, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The Philippines will stop operations of 175 offshore gambling firms and deport about 40,000 Chinese workers, a justice ministry official said on Monday, part of a crackdown on the notoriously opaque online gaming industry.

Campaigns will include PlayStation's "Monthly Check-In" campaign, where you can earn points just for playing any game on your console. Other activities will require you to win tournaments or unlock trophies to earn points -- or even be the first player in your local time zone to make it to platinum for a blockbuster title (which indicates that a player has achieved 100% completion in that game).

Alexander's girlfriend was wearing a bikini top from the brand  in the clip, which Alexander is the CEO of and who is the original poster of the viral video - leaving some to question if the moment was real or faked.

Digital collectibles are also on their way to the PS5 via the Stars program. Collectibles could be figurines of iconic characters -- think Solid Snake or Ratchet & Clank -- or they could be representations of famous Sony devices throughout history. 

Crowds gathered at the Rogers Centre on Sunday to watch the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Boston Red Sox, and while fans expected a great game, what they didn't expect was to see a marriage proposal go south. 

The PlayStation Stars program will launch later this year, though an exact time frame hasn't been provided yet. CNET reached out to PlayStation, but the gaming giant didn't immediately respond for comment.

Sony on Thursday introduced its PlayStation Stars loyalty program for PS5 and PS4 gamers. It'll be free to join, and players will be able to earn loyalty points by completing a variety of campaigns and activities. Players can choose from a catalog of options to redeem points, including PlayStation Network wallet funds and select PlayStation Store products.

Real estate consultancy Leechiu Property Consultants estimates that a complete exit of the POGO industry would leave vacant 1.05 million square metres (259 acres) of office space - a third of the size of New York's Central Park - and 8.9 billion pesos ($151 million) in foregone annual rent.

Mr Gotterson found the company guilty of a serious dereliction of its anti-money laundering responsibilities, deliberately misled the regulator and had poor corporate culture with a 'one-eyed focus' on profit at the expense of patrons.

The POGOs targeted for closure had licenses that either expired or were revoked, for violations like non-payment of government fees, Clavano said, adding the deportation of the Chinese workers would start next month.

The sector employs 201,000 Chinese and 111,000 Filipinos, according to Leechiu's data, which estimates POGOs deliver 190 billion pesos ($3.22 billion) to the economy each year, a boon to the property and retail sectors.

She replied that she was 'dealing with the report before us which deals with recommendations around casinos and there's enough in this report to keep me busy, particularly with the finding of unsuitability. 

Neill, who runs consumer complaints website Resolver, said 'the game is up' for Sony.
She said the case is particularly important as gaming is the biggest part of the UK's entertainment industry - ahead of TV, video and music. 

Milberg partner Natasha Pearman, who is leading the case, said: 'It [Sony] has deployed an anti-competitive strategy which has resulted in excessive prices to customers that are out of all proportion to the costs of Sony providing its services.' 

Mr Gotterson has made 12 recommendations to tighten controls in the state's casino industry, including for venues to go cashless with patrons to use cards linked to their identification and set with loss limits before they start gambling.

Meanwhile more than 90 per cent of ten to 16-year-olds play online games regularly. Campaign group ParentZone has claimed children feel under pressure to make ingame purchases and almost half believe games are only fun when spending money.

Former acting chief executive Geoff Hogg admitted Star wasn't fully up-front with the Queensland regulator when it changed a policy in order to conceal $55million in banned transactions from a Chinese bank.

Neill said: 'The drive towards in-game purchases allows companies like Sony to profiteer and abuse their power because they have a captive audience. Sony knows its customers are hooked once they are part of the PlayStation world and it exploits them with exorbitant charges on every digital purchase.' 

'The Star does under the legislation have an opportunity, natural justice, to put forward a case about what should happen next so I don't want to preempt that but it is open to government to cancel their license, to suspend their license,' she said. 

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